Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Lori’s story 3. Okay Naomi-sensei, what are we studying today?
Naomi: 今日は (kyō wa), very simple self introduction.
Eric: Okay, today’s conversation takes place at?
Naomi: 成田空港 (Narita Kūkō). Narita international airport.
Eric: Ae we have been advertising 成田空港 (Narita Kūkō) for quite couple of weeks now ah!
Naomi: That’s right.
Eric: And they haven’t paid us a single penny. I am going to send my bill over there. Anyway, so what’s happening?
Naomi: A man is looking for Lori at the airport. I think he is there to pick up Lori.
Eric: All right, let’s take a listen.
DIALOGUE
(成田空港) (Narita Kūkō)
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あの...、ラリーさんですか。(A, ano..., Rarī-san desu ka.)
男 (otoko) : いいえ、違います。(Iie, chigaimasu.)
水木 (Mizuki) : うわぁぁぁあぁ、すみません。(Uwāāā, sumimasen.)
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あのぉ、ラリーさんですか。(A, anō, Rarī-san desu ka.)
ロリー (Rorī) : ラリー...あ、はい。ロリー ネイラーです。水木(みずき)さん ですか。(Rarī... A, hai. Rorī Neirā desu. Mizuki-san desu ka.)
水木 (Mizuki) : はい。留学センターの 水木 一男(みずきかずお)です。(Hai. Ryūgaku sentā no Mizuki Kazuo desu.)
もう一度、お願いします。今度は、ゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa, yukkuri onegai shimasu.)
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あの...、ラリーさん ですか。(A, ano..., Rarī-san desu ka.)
男 (otoko) : いいえ、違います。(Iie, chigaimasu.)
水木 (Mizuki) : うわぁぁぁあぁ、すみません。(Uwāāā, sumimasen.)
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あのぉ、ラリーさんですか。(A, anō, Rarī-san desu ka.)
ロリー (Rorī) : ラリー...あ、はい。ロリー ネイラーです。水木(みずき)さん ですか。(Rarī... A, hai. Rorī Neirā desu. Mizuki-san desu ka.)
水木 (Mizuki) : はい。留学センターの 水木 一男(みずきかずお)です。(Hai. Ryūgaku sentā no Mizuki Kazuo desu.)
今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.)
(成田空港) (Narita Kūkō)
(Narita Airport)
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あの...、ラリーさん ですか。(A, ano..., Rarī-san desu ka.)
MIZUKI: Um... are you Larry?
男 (otoko) : いいえ、違います。(Iie, chigaimasu.)
MAN: No.
水木 (Mizuki) : うわぁぁぁあぁ、すみません。(Uwāāā, sumimasen.)
MIZUKI: Ohhhh. I'm sorry.
水木 (Mizuki) : あ、あのぉ、ラリーさんですか。(A, anō, Rarī-san desu ka.)
MIZUKI: Um... are you Larry?
ロリー (Rorī) : ラリー... あ、はい。ロリー ネイラーです。(Rarī... A, hai. Rorī Neirā desu.)
LORI: Larry? ...Oh, yes. I'm Lori Nailer.
ロリー (Rorī) : 水木(みずき)さん ですか。 (Mizuki-san desu ka.)
LORI: Are you Mr. Mizuki?
水木 (Mizuki) : はい。留学センターの 水木 一男(みずきかずお)です。(Hai. Ryūgaku sentā no Mizuki Kazuo desu.)
MIZUKI: That's right. I'm Kazuo Mizuki from the study-abroad office.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: It was that type of pick up ha! Yeah I thought this story was about to get really interesting but…
Naomi: すみません。(Sumimasen.) Sorry.
Eric: No but hey, it was pretty exciting. Yeah but did you notice how excited that guy got when he was like oh like wow! Right, did you see that? That’s actually not like a random exclamation. I think that word わ〜 (wā) is in the dictionary.
Naomi: In the dictionary?
Eric: It really is.
Naomi: Oh really?
Eric: And I actually looked it up.
Naomi: Okay.
Eric: You know I – because everybody says it. I think all or most exclamations in Japanese are pretty much like codified. There is like a code for it and they all say the same thing. So when you are surprised or you need to exclaim whoa or something like that, you say うわ~ (uwā), right?
Naomi: そうですね (sō desu ne), right. うわぁぁ~。(Uwā.) We don’t pronounce う (u) very clearly.
Eric: Right, right. It depends on how surprised you are. So it’s all on you and yeah, what else came up in this conversation where it’s not really a word?
Naomi: あの~ (anō)
Eric: あの~ (anō) means
Naomi: Well... thinking sound.
Eric: Right, kind of like a thinking sound like ammm...or ah…. Well I think that’s just my way of saying it. I think nobody says that but anyway, yeah it’s kind of like um…It’s kind of like you are trying to get into somebody’s personal space and to get in there softly instead of just barging in and asking a question. You softly enter through the side with あの~ (anō).
Naomi: そうですね。あの~、すみません。(Sō desu ne. Anō, sumimasen.)
Eric: Right, that's the most common way. You don’t just step up in front of somebody and say, hey where is the movie theater. So say it all the time あの~ (anō). And by the way, is there a pitch accent for あの~ (anō) and うわ~ (uwā) and all that stuff? Hey imagine if you say it wrong, it can totally ruin the mood of your excitement, of your polite intrusion.
Naomi: Yeah, that’s true.
Eric: Right.
Naomi: (natural speed) あの〜 (anō) (slow) あの〜(anō)
Eric: It usually goes up.
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: It usually goes up. I have never heard it going down and うわー (uwā) tends to go up because you are kind of excited, right?
Naomi: Yeah, yeah, yeah like excitement is rising.
Eric: Right. Like a rocket in the sky just like us.
Naomi: But you use あの~ (anō) a lot in the conversation but do you use わ~ (wā) ?
Eric: I don’t say わ~ (wā) but you know what I do say all the time? へえ~。(Hē.)
Naomi: へえ~。(Hē.) Heee…
Eric: That’s right. I say it all the time just because it’s fun to say. Now the real reason I say it is because everybody says it all the time.
Naomi: Yeah.
Eric: Just turn on any Japanese TV at any time to any channel, I guarantee you will hear it within the first couple of minutes.
Naomi: Yeah. そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) Wow….
Eric: Wow right wow…Wow I just learned something new that I didn’t know before, へぇ~(hē). Anyway on to the vocabulary.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Okay, our first word today is
Naomi: 留学 (ryūgaku)
Eric: Studying abroad.
Naomi: (slow) りゅうがく (ryūgaku) (natural speed) 留学 (ryūgaku)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: センター (sentā)
Eric: Center.
Naomi: (slow) センター (sentā) (natural speed) センター (sentā)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: 違います (chigaimasu)
Eric: It’s different, it’s wrong.
Naomi: (slow) ちがいます (chigaimasu) (natural speed) 違います (chigaimasu)
Eric: The next word is
Naomi: さん (san)
Eric: Mr or Mrs.
Naomi: (slow) さん (san) (natural speed) さん (san)
Eric: And the next word is
Naomi: いいえ (iie)
Eric: No.
Naomi: (slow) いいえ (iie) (natural speed) いいえ (iie)
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Eric: All right and don’t forget, not only memorize these words but memorize the intonation and the accent and Naomi-sensei is just doing a wonderful job of pronouncing all the accents up and down. So learn that too…
Naomi: Thank you.
Eric: We will practice a lot. So let’s go on to useful vocabulary and phrases. First we have…
Naomi: いいえ、違います。(Iie, chigaimasu.)
Eric: All right and いいえ (iie) means
Naomi: No.
Eric: And 違います (chigaimasu) means
Naomi: That’s wrong.
Eric: Right. Personally if thinking from the Japanese to English point of view, 違います (chigaimasu) also means no if you were to translate it into English but really literally it means that is different.
Naomi: Ah yeah.
Eric: Or that is wrong. It’s different. That’s not the case. So basically it’s like saying no, someone is wrong about something or like a proposed option or something is incorrect and this is opposite. Let’s give an example. Naomi-sensei,
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: それはダイヤモンドですか。(Sore wa daiamondo desu ka.)
Naomi: これ?いいえ、違います。(Kore? Iie, chigaimasu.)
Eric: Naomi-sensei, is that a diamond?
Naomi: No it’s not.
Eric: You see, it’s really no but it’s basically that’s different. It’s different. It’s not a diamond, it’s something else. Something different okay and what’s our next phrase?
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.)
Eric: What’s the first word?
Naomi: はい (hai), yes.
Eric: And
Naomi: そうです (sō desu)
Eric: Which literally means
Naomi: It is so. That’s right.
Eric: Hey, that's an easy word to remember. It is so, そう です (sō desu). That’s one word that is probably the word you use the most.
Naomi: はい、そうです。(Hai, sō desu.)
Eric: And what’s our next phrase, Naomi-sensei?
Naomi: It’s not a phrase. It’s a honorific suffix but it’s さん (san).
Eric: Okay, it’s kind of like Naomi-san.
Naomi: そうです。エリックさん。(Sō desu. Erikku-san.)
Eric: And it basically means Mr. or Mrs. It doesn’t mean that. I guess it's the closest English equivalent, right?
Naomi: Yeah, you can attach さん (san) to the person’s first name too.
Eric: Oh that’s right. So not only their last name. Like in English, we can only use Mr and Mrs for last names right but さん (san) can be used for first names, last names and I think this is kind of out of the topic here but you can also attach it to other things like stores, right?
Naomi: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah and job too. Job and titles too.
Eric: Oh that’s right, yeah.
Naomi: Like waiter-san, ウエイターさん (weitā-san).
Eric: Right and the bookstore 本屋さん (hon’ya-san). When would you attach さん (san) to like store or something abstract like that?
Naomi: When you want to be polite maybe.
Eric: Polite to the bookstore?
Naomi: Yeah.
Eric: I am sorry bookstore, but it’s for all those times I was quite rude to you but we will get into that another time.
Naomi: Can you give us the name of a famous person?
Eric: 阿部寛。(Abe Hiroshi.)
Naomi: なんで、阿部寛。(Nande, Abe Hiroshi.)
Eric: Ah I knew you are going to say that. You have a problem with 阿部寛 (Abe Hiroshi).
Naomi: No.
Eric: What’s going on over there?
Naomi: なんで阿部寛?(Nande Abe Hiroshi?)
Eric: So what are you trying to say with this?
Naomi: No, no, no I have no objection about 阿部寛 (Abe Hiroshi) but okay yeah, 阿部寛 (Abe Hiroshi).
Eric: C’mon.
Naomi: So 阿部寛 (Abe Hiroshi) can be called 阿部さん (Abe-san) or 寛さん (Hiroshi-san) or 阿部寛さん (Abe Hiroshi-san).
Eric: That’s really versatile. So can I call myself エリックさん (Erikku-san)?
Naomi: Ah no, you can’t put さん (san) to your own name.
Eric: All right. That’s less versatile than I thought. No but actually seriously this is the classic mistake for people learning Japanese calling themselves their name さん (san), just don’t do it. You can call everybody else and everything else さん (san) except like you know, a little kid. Don’t call them さん (san), that’s also a mistake. That’s kind of a newbie mistake like for example, you have your friends the 山田 (Yamada)s. Hey 山田さん (Yamada-san), oh the little baby who is just born last year little 一男 (kazuo), hey 一男さん (Kazuo-san). Everyone will think you are a freak. This guy is calling this 1-year-old baby さん (san). I have made that mistake a million times. That’s why I know.

Lesson focus

Eric: Okay, on to the grammar and today’s target phrase is
Naomi: ロリー・ネイラーです。(Rorī Neirā desu.)
Eric: Which means I am Lori Naylor. But she did not say 私は (watashi wa).
Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) 私 (watashi) means I. は (wa) is a topic marker but since it’s obvious that she was talking about herself, she omitted 私は (watashi wa).
Eric: And as we mentioned in the previous episode Lori story 2 with これ (kore), それ (sore) and あれ (are) and you can omit subject from any sentence where the subject is obvious even when it’s not that obvious especially with this 私は (watashi wa). So Naomi-sensei, what would be a better way to say 私はエリックです (watashi wa Erikku desu).
Naomi: エリックです。(Erikku desu.)
Eric: And how about 私はなおみです (watashi wa Naomi desu)?
Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.)
Eric: And just don’t say 私は (watashi wa) and that’s a general rule of thumb for everything not only when you are saying your name but especially when you are saying how you feel when you are giving adjectives like I am sleepy, I am hungry, I am this, I am that. Don’t say 私は (watashi wa), just say the adjective. Just say it and if people don’t know what you are talking about, they will ask you. That whole process is much more natural than you stating everything explicitly in the beginning, right Naomi-sensei?
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: And in today’s dialogue, we also have
Naomi: 留学センターの水木一男です。(Ryūgaku sentā no Mizuki Kazuo desu.)
Eric: That’s a mouthful and it means I am Kazuo Mizuki from the study abroad office.
Naomi: In this sentence, 私は (watashi wa) is also omitted.
Eric: Something interesting about the construction of the sentence, he says where he is from first and then his name but he connects it with の (no). So this の (no), it has two functions right and today we will be talking about its attribution property. In plain English, it means that you can attribute a property about yourself by connecting の (no) and when I say property, I mean like your job, your school or your membership to something, your belonging to something like a club or anything and just like this guy 水木 (Mizuki) said, he said 留学センターの水木です (ryūgaku sentā no Mizuki desu). So he is the Mizuki who works at the 留学センター (ryūgaku sentā) or he represents them in some way and same thing with the title of your job. ポッドキャスターのエリックです。(Poddokyasutā no Erikku desu.)
Naomi: あ、そうですね。ジャパニーズポッド101のなおみです。(A, sō desu ne. Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi no Naomi desu.) So your company’s name の (no), your name です (desu).
Eric: You hear that all the time, don’t you?
Naomi: はい。(Hai.)
Eric: In coffee shops, on the street.
Naomi: On the street?
Eric: Yeah, if somebody is doing business on the street.
Naomi: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Eric: They say their affiliation の (no) and then their name. It happens all the time.
Naomi: Do you want to practice?
Eric: All right. Shoot.
Naomi: すみません。ジャパニーズポッド101のピーターさんですか。(Sumimasen. Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi no Pītā-san desu ka.)
Eric: いいえ、違います。ジャパニーズポット101のエリックです。(Iie, chigaimasu. Japanīzupoddo ichi maru ichi no Erikku desu.) And notice how I didn’t say エリックさんです (Erikku-san desu). Remember never put san to your own name. All right, the time has come for Naomi-sensei and I to go shopping for a nice diamond because…
Naomi: I don’t have one.

Outro

Eric: Exactly as we have so subtly pointed out in this episode. So goodbye to you all, see you next week.
Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.)

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